Bucknell University Athletics
Women's Basketball's Taylor O'Brien Earns Third Bison of the Week Award
3/14/2022 11:39:00 AM | Women's Basketball
LEWISBURG, Pa. – Bucknell women's basketball senior Taylor O'Brien was named Bison of the Week on Monday after guiding the team to the Patriot League championship game with an outstanding showing in the tournament. It's O'Brien's third Bison of the Week honor this season.
O'Brien averaged 16.7 points, 4.7 rebounds, 3.3 steals and 1.3 blocks in three tournament games last week. She scored 41 of her 50 points in the semifinal and championship rounds. Following Sunday's title game against American, O'Brien was voted to the seven-player Patriot League All-Tournament Team for a second consecutive year.
In Monday's quarterfinal win over Lehigh, O'Brien was relatively quiet offensively but came up huge on the defensive end, as the Bison erased an eight-point halftime deficit and won 56-53 over the Mountain Hawks. O'Brien played all 40 minutes of the contest and grabbed four steals while posting two blocks. She also pulled down eight rebounds, scored nine points and handed out a pair of assists.
O'Brien was huge in the semifinal victory over Navy on Thursday, scoring a team-high 21 points and adding three more steals in the 64-44 win. 14 of her points came during the first half, allowing Bucknell to carry a 36-19 lead into the halftime break.
In Sunday's championship at American, O'Brien hit the 20-points mark for a ninth time this season and for the 13th time in her career. She added three more steals, bringing her total for the week to 10, and posted her third and fourth blocks of the tournament. O'Brien also did her part at the foul line with a 5-for-6 showing on Sunday, and she was 13-for-15 from the line over the three games.
With 1,079 points in her career, O'Brien ranks 21st on Bucknell's all-time scoring list. Her 521 points in 2021-22 are eighth-most by a Bison in a single season, her 196 made field goals ranks seventh, and her 485 field goal attempts are fourth.
O'Brien and the Bison still have at least one more game to play this season, as it was announced Sunday evening that Bucknell received an at-large bid to the WNIT. Opponent, date and time of Bucknell's first round game will be announced Monday afternoon.
